Real Madrid host Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu for the second El Clasico clash of this campaign in the La Liga on Sunday.

Where to Watch Live

Kick-off is set for 8pm GMT. Live coverage of the game is on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 1 HD.

Overview

Real Madrid come into this game having secured progress into the Champions League quarterfinal with a 9-2 aggregate victory against Schalke. The Spanish capital outfit registered a 3-1 victory in the second leg at home last Tuesday.

Tim Hoogland cancelled out Cristiano Ronaldo's opener in the first half. But the Portuguese international restored the lead in the 74th minute before Alvaro Morata netted another a minute later.

In their previous La Liga fixture, Carlo Ancelotti's side registered a narrow 1-0 victory against Malaga courtesy of Ronaldo's first half goal, helping them remain on top of the league table with 70 points after 28 matches.

Barcelona suffered multiple setbacks in the title race after Real Sociedad (3-1) and Real Valladolid (1-0) registered wins against them in their last four league fixtures.

However, the Catalan giants went were in no mood to suffer any more setbacks and gave Osasuna a 7-0 thrashing at Camp Nou in their last league game.

Lionel Messi opened the scoring in the 18th minute and Alexis Sanchez joined him in the act four minutes later. Andres Iniesta made it 3-0 before the break. Messi completed his hat-trick netting one goal each on either side of Cristian Tello's strike before Pedro slammed home the seventh and final goal of the game in injury time.

Lionel MessiReuters

Gerardo Martino's side are currently third in the league table with 66 points, four shy off the league leaders.

Both Barcelona and Madrid are among the top scorers in the league with 81 and 77 goals respectively. Ronaldo leads the league's scoring charts with 25 goals to his name while Messi trails the Portuguese international by seven goals with 18 in his tally.

In the first El Clasico of this campaign, Barcelona emerged 2-1 victorious at home with goals from Neymar and Alexis Sanchez as Jese Rodriguez netted a consolation for the visitors before the final whistle. Since this defeat, Madrid have managed to put together an unbeaten run of 31 matches in all competitions winning 26 in the process.

The winner of this clash will certainly come away with the bragging rights while it could also play a crucial factor in the race to lift the La Liga title. However, this is not the last El Clasico clash of the season as both sides will face each other once again in the Copa del Rey Final next month.

What Managers Say

Carlo Ancelotti: "A Clasico is always a good match and always has the same pressure because it's a very important game for the Liga and it's always different to every other match. We won't settle for a draw because we have the small advantage of being at home and we want to win. The support from our fans could be important for us and a small advantage against Barcelona."

Gerardo Martino: "It's probably our last chance to win the league. There are nine games left after this Sunday's game and it's not the same to catch up one point than four or seven.I believe a draw isn't a good result though that depends on how the game goes. We're convinced we can win the Clasico.We'll do everything we can to cut the gap with Real Madrid."